The Violin
by Lilia
Summary: a play I wrote for a contest, about a student whose dream is to become a violinist, but can't


The Violin  
  
This is a memory play. Most of the scenes take place in the main character's mind. Because of that, the scenes seem poetic and sentimental. They fuse the lyric with the pragmatic. The scenes that occur without the main character in it are simply imagined and inferred in her mind.  
  
OLD NADIA-about 39 years old, engineer with two children  
  
NADIA-about 19 years old, a music student in New York City, plays the violin  
  
CARINE-Nadia's best friend at the university, a pianist  
  
LAUREN-another friend of Nadia, a cellist  
  
DANIEL-another friend and another cellist  
  
1ST BOY-Nadia's 1st son  
  
2ND BOY-Nadia's 2nd son  
  
NURSE-a kind nurse at the hospital  
  
ACT 1  
  
Scene 1  
  
A woman sits in an armchair reading a newspaper in a comfortable house. She seems normal, but her left hand is strangely deformed. Her name is Nadia. It is June, and the year is 2020. Many things have changed since the age we know now, but so many things have remained the same.  
  
OLD NADIA. (reads a newspaper) .President Clark calls a campaign to fight ethnic cleansing.Rocky ride for tourists on Spaceship Xena. (puts down newspaper) What's new? Things haven't changed that much since when I was young.  
  
(1st and 2nd boy enter)  
  
1ST BOY. Play with me on the flight simulator game, please please? You promised!  
  
2nd BOY. (2nd boy pushes 1st boy) Mommy, let's go to the park. Please?  
  
OLD NADIA. (sighs gently and smiles) (to 1st boy) Ask Daddy to play with you okay? Your mother is very busy right now. (to 2nd boy) You too, darling. Daddy's in the robot-computer room.  
  
(1st and 2nd boy playfully exit. Their laughter is heard offstage.)  
  
OLD NADIA. (looks distracted) Things haven't changed that much. Things haven't changed that much. (stands up and walks to a window) But. (she looks at her deformed left hand)  
  
Scene 2  
  
1 A young girl of nineteen lies on the hospital bed, her chestnut hair gently tousled on the white pillow. Breathing tubes, x-rays, and other medical equipment loom above her like a menacing spider web. Her left hand is heavily bandaged.  
  
YOUNG NADIA. (She is sleeping but wakes up. Sitting, she frantically glances around her.) What happened? Where am I? (silence for a few seconds while she continues to look around her)  
  
(nurse enters)  
  
Scene 2  
  
2 A young girl of nineteen lies on the hospital bed, her chestnut hair gently tousled on the white pillow. Breathing tubes, x-rays, and other medical equipment loom above her like a menacing spider web. Her left hand is heavily bandaged.  
  
YOUNG NADIA. (She is sleeping but wakes up. Sitting, she frantically glances around her.) What happened? Where am I? (silence for a few seconds while she continues to look around her)  
  
(nurse exits)  
  
Scene 3  
  
In a December park, the bare branches of the cedar trees stretch over a group of three young students. Gentle flurries of snow fall on three standing in the cold winter morning. An old wooden bench sits nearby.  
  
(a long pause)  
  
CARINE. (worriedly flipping through a book of Chopin etudes. She continues to do this throughout the scene) How is she? (pauses and turns to Daniel) Yesterday, Lauren and I went to see her at the hospital. Her left hand was heavily bandaged, and she was asleep. We did not want to disturb her, so we left quickly.  
  
LAUREN. We talked to a nurse. Nadia got in a car accident. These New York City streets are dangerous. (Lauren strikes a characteristic pose to her: both hands on her hips. She continues to do this throughout the scene.)  
  
CARINE. (sigh) The question now is not how she got injured. What has happened, has happened. (pause and then almost impulsively) Will she be able to play the violin again?  
  
DANIEL. (shakes his head) Nadia's so young. We're all so young. We're music students at the university. We take our semester exams in a few weeks-  
  
CARINE. (interrupting Daniel) Will you stop evading my question, Daniel? Do you think that Nadia can play the violin again?  
  
LAUREN. Let's sit down. (the young students walk over to the bench. Daniel and Carine sit while Lauren stands.) Ever since the tragedy on September 11, everything has changed. I am so forgetful. Who is it that said that compared change to a flowing stream? He said. it is not possible to step in the same stream twice.  
  
CARINE. Heraclitus, ancient Greek philosopher  
  
LAUREN. Yes, him. Ever since that tragedy, our whole lives have completely changed. It was only three months ago. Three months ago, we were just entering this school. I didn't know any of you, nor Nadia, but since then, we have become forever friends. Nadia's injury is only the latest tragedy. A great tragedy. She is a good friend. She. was. a great violinist. Truthfully, Carine, I don't know how to feel. Anger, sadness, hope for the future. So I don't know whether Nadia can continue playing or not. And it's not for us to decide. Nadia has to make that decision herself.  
  
CARINE. (thoughtfully) Nadia's dream was to be a concert violinist. She had fast fingers, but even more, she was musical. Different from the other 200 violinists in the Moscow Conservatory. Nadia loves music. It is her life!  
  
LAUREN. (interrupts Carine) Yes, it means everything to her; without it, she is nothing.  
  
DANIEL. (wistfully) There are other musicians who have made amazing comebacks in music. The great pianist Leon Fleisher, for example, had Carpal Tunnel's syndrome to his right hand, but look at him now! Giving masterclasses and performing all over the world.  
  
LAUREN. But Fleisher had already made his name and career before he had his injury. When you are famous like that and you have an injury, your fans moan about you and send you get well cards; your enemies secretly rejoice. Being a musician is a competitive business. Every practice, competition, every rehearsal seems like a business trip. It's not for us to decide whether Nadia can continue violin or not. Ultimately, it's her decision.  
  
CARINE. Yet we can encourage, or discourage her.  
  
LAUREN. (softly) Yes, we can do that. (pause) We need to decide whether we should discourage or encourage Nadia from continuing her music career. There's no doubt about that Nadia is extremely talented. She has all the qualities to be a great musician. The physical qualities-long fingers, beauty, endurance. (speaks as if she was running down a list) The intellectual qualities-intelligence, talent, charisma, and also the ability to concentrate and the ability to work hard. And Nadia is musical. So the question seems to be: will the qualities I just listed be enough to over her severe injury?  
  
DANIEL. How severe is her injury, by the way? I haven't visited the hospital yet.  
  
CARINE. Her hand seemed. strangely contorted. I don't know exactly. (to Lauren) Lauren, you forgot one thing in your list. Nadia loves music.  
  
LAUREN. (startled) Yes. love.  
  
CARINE. Nadia is Russian. She was born there. She came to America with her mother as a teenager in high school. She sacrificed her friends, her language, her culture, just for he sake of music. America has more opportunities than Russia for an aspiring musician.  
  
LAUREN. (smiles) James Conlon once said, 'People who love music love it everyday. Ask anyone. They have a passion for it, and passion doesn't leave you alone.' It's become my favorite quote. We simply cannot let Nadia abandon her dream. Besides, if she abandons it, her heart will be empty. Nadia isn't they type of person who can easily find something else for a passion. So we have to convince her to keep playing the violin. As friends, we must do so.  
  
DANIEL. So now you think that simple love for music can overcome her hand injury?  
  
LAUREN. I remember when I was young, I used to think that love can solve everything. Of course, that's incorrect, but it is also true many times. Don't you think so?  
  
CARINE. Yes, Nadia loves music. If she is determined to continue playing, and if she keeps her love for music, she can make her dream come true!  
  
DANEIL. So it's decided? We will encourage Nadia to keep playing.  
  
LAUREN. Yes, we will do that. But still, you know, ultimately, it will be Nadia's choice. We can't force her to continue violin, but we can, as good friends, encourage her to.  
  
DANIEL. (excited) Let's go to the hospital right now!  
  
CARINE. Sure, let's go!  
  
(They exit, and their laughter is heard backstage.)  
  
Scene 4  
  
(same scene as scene two, in the hospital. Nadia is alone.)  
  
NADIA. (closing her eyes and biting her lip) I will continue music, I will continue music, I must continue to play the violin! I can't give up now, even with this horrible injury. I love music, I must play. I will continue music. (repeats 'I will continue music' countless times)  
  
(talking backstage. Carine, Daniel, and Lauren enter)  
  
CARINE. Hello Nadia! (gently hugs her best friend)  
  
LAUREN. The students at the university are all very sorry about what happened. (bluntly) Will you continue to play the violin, Nadia?  
  
NADIA. (grits her teeth) Of course, I will play.  
  
DANIEL. Carine, Lauren, and I were talking about you. We decided that we would encourage you to continue playing the violin because you love it so much. Everyone has a passion in life. And when you find the passion, you have to hold on to it, no matter what happens. It's most important.  
  
NADIA. (thoughtfully, she was only half listening to what Daniel said) Yesterday, I had a dream. I was playing the Tchaikovsky concerto on the Moscow Conservatory stage. My hands held my precious violin, and I poured my soul into the music. It was an absolutely wonderful feeling. I was doing the thing I loved, and I was holding my most beloved possession. (pauses and then smiles) Don't worry about me. If I cannot play the violin, I will not find another love in life. And I cannot let that happen. (smiles again)  
  
Scene 5  
  
The setting is the same as scene one. The older Nadia stands facing the window looking at her deformed hand. She is crying.  
  
OLD NADIA. I was wrong-I often am. University days. They were over long before I thought they would end. And now. I am an engineer. I have a loving husband, two sons. I should be happy. I make a decent income working as an engineer, but my heart is not in it. Everyday, I cry; everyday I feel miserable. I am 39 now, I have a husband, two sons. Yet why do I cry?  
  
(Nadia quickly walks over an old violin case in a corner. Kneeling, she quickly opens the case and trembling, her hands touch her beloved violin for the first time in twenty years. She picks it up, and holds it in her hand. Her fingers run along the thin, resonant strings. Her right hand picks up the violin bow. For a moment, she hesitates, indecisively holding the violin in mid-air. Then, taking a deep breath, she gently puts the violin against her neck, and attempts to play once more. Her deformed left hand struggles to grasp the end of the violin. Impulsively, her right hand holds the bow close to the violin strings, and she tries to play again. Tentative, weak, screeching sounds come forth from her beloved instrument. She is surprised at the sound, aghast. Scrunching her face, she sobs relentlessly. Her hands still hold the violin.) 


End file.
